German court rules asylum-seeker cannot be returned to Hungary, citing “systemic deficiencies”

A superior court in Lower Saxony ruled Tuesday that a Kosovar, Hungary, refugee who entered Germany in 2013 cannot be returned to Hungary, citing “systemic deficiencies” in Hungary’s asylum procedures, reports hvg.hu.

The man arrived to Germany via Hungary, applying for asylum at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in violation of Dublin regulations which require that all asylum procedures take place in the first EU member state to which asylum seekers arrive. Hungary agreed to process his request, and BAMF ordered that the man be returned to Hungary for processing. The man turned to the courts and won a decision last March when a Hannover court overturned the BAMF decision, ruling that the man could not be returned to Hungary due to deficiencies in its asylum process. BAMF appealed the Hannover court’s decision, which was upheld Tuesday.

The court’s statement claimed that the applicant would be threatened with “inhuman or degrading treatment” if returned to Hungary, and that procedural deficiencies in Hungary could lead to his arrest and deportation to Serbia without a proper examination of the merits of his asylum application. Such abuses have characterized Hungarian asylum procedures, according to some human rights organizations.